Audio
Features

Since version
3.1 Pizzicato has functions designed to work directly with sound.

The functions
described in the other sections are related to the use of MIDI to
handle music and hear the notes. Pizzicato plays the score by
sending a series of MIDI commands to the sound card of your
computer or to your synthesizer.

However, there
are cases for which MIDI may not be used. For instance, if you
want to add your voice to an arrangement, or if you want to
record a real instrument and keep the sound exactly as it is. In
such a case, the program must record and store the sound itself.
It is the purpose of the Pizzicato audio functions.

Record
Your Voice Or A Real Instrument

With Pizzicato,
you can associate one audio track (or several according to the
version) to a music score. You may write the score of a song and
record your own voice through a microphone connected to your
computer, while listening to the music.

You may
visualize the beginning of the audio tracks in relation to the
score measures. The audio tracks may be shifted to coincide with
a specific measure of the score.

The Pizzicato
conductor view makes it possible to create a full arrangement
made of several distinct and independant audio tracks as well as
one or more scores played in MIDI. The audio files are not
limited to your voice or to an instrument. You can for instance
create an audio track for a video, by adding noises and effects
that you can find on the Internet or in audio libraries.

Editing
An Audio File

Pizzicato comes
with its own audio editor to help you manage audio. With a
double-click on an audio track (or by using the "Open an
audio file" menu) you open a window that displays the sound
wave and lets you:

Modify volumes and create smooth progressions

Mix/combine/copy/paste/delete parts of sound waves, from one or
several audio files

Draw the wave directly with a graphic tool

Change the time scale progressively (to create special effects like
pushing your finger on an old vinyl disc to slow it down, changing the
character of your voice,...)

Explore multiple and parametered echoes

Invert time

Add music notes and glissando

With these
functions, you may correct, adapt or modify your own audio
recordings (remove a too long silence, duplicate a passage,
adjust volumes, add echo to your voice, add effects,...).

Exporting
To An Audio "WAV" File

Finally,
Pizzicato may export an audio file (with the "WAV"
extension) containing the sound result of the score played in
MIDI, combined with the audio files associated to the score. This
file may then be burned on a CD with your favorite CD burning
software. You may then listen to your compositions and
arrangements on any CD reader and distribute them to your
relatives.

Sound
Library With Real Instruments

All Pizzicato
versions (but not the evaluation versions) come with a full sound
samples library from real instruments. This is the Papelmedia
library. The score can be played or exported by using that
library, so as to improve the sound rendering of your
compositions. You can listen to several samples of this library
at: